serious eats essentials

A few years ago at a family meal my dad randomly launched into a lengthy panegyric to rice. He does this sometimes—proclaims a deep but previously unvoiced passion—and my mother, sister, and I roll our eyes at the poor outnumbered...

Essentials: Rice Recipe

white rice

water

salt

olive oil

Combine all ingredients (I don’t bother to rinse the rice) in a 2-quart saucepan and bring to a simmer. As soon as the water reaches a lively simmer, give everything a good stir, cover the pot, and lower the heat as much as possible. After 15 minutes, turn off the burner, remove the pot from the heat, and let it sit for at least 5 minutes before fluffing with a fork and serving.

Photograph: ©iStockphoto.com/mstroz Since the thought of another pile of paper to manage makes me cringe, I don’t keep a file of recipe clippings for the future. I can’t remember, then, what prompted me to pull this recipe from Mark Bittman’s...

Essentials: Baked Ziti Recipe

Salt and pepper

Italian sausage, preferably bulk

onion,

garlic

tomatoes, chopped,

ziti or other large cut pasta

mozzarella, grated or chopped

Olive oil or butter as needed

Parmesan,

Bring large pot of water to boil; salt it. Heat oven to 400°F.

Distribute meat in large skillet over medium high heat and cook, undisturbed, until browned on one side, about 5 minutes. Stir and then cook another 2 minutes undisturbed. Add the onion and garlic. Lower heat to medium and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are soft; add tomatoes and bring to a boil. Simmer while cooking pasta, stirring and seasoning with salt and pepper to taste; do not let sauce become too thick.

Cook pasta until just tender; it should still be too hard to eat. Drain it (do not shake the colander; allow some water to cling to the noodles) and toss it with the sauce and half the mozzarella. Grease a 9-by-13-inch baking dish and spoon mixture into it. Top with remaining mozzarella and the Parmesan if using. Bake until top is browned and cheese bubbly, 20 to 30 minutes.

Photograph from blair christensen on Flickr Since I was raised on wonderfully lardy, cheesy Tex-Mex, it took me a while to come around to the ungloppy goodness that is a fish taco. In the early 1990s fish tacos became something...

Essentials: Fish Tacos Recipe

sour cream or plain yogurt

lime juice

salt and fresh ground pepper

red cabbage, thinly shredded (about 2 1/2 cups)

scallions, thinly sliced (about 1/2 cu)

jalapeno chile, halved lengthwise, one half minced

tilapia

flour tortillas (6-inch)

cilantro leaves

In a large bowl, combine the sour cream and lime juice; season with salt and pepper. Transfer half the mixture to another container; set aside for serving. Toss the cabbage, scallions, and minced jalapeno with the remaining sour-cream mixture. Season again with salt and pepper.

In a large nonstick skillet, heat the oil and remaining jalapeno half over medium-high heat; swirl to coat the bottom of the pan. Season the fish on both sides with salt and pepper. In two batches (starting with any larger pieces), cook the fish until golden brown on all sides, 5 to 6 minutes. Discard the jalapeno.

Meanwhile, warm the tortillas. I do this on top of the stove in another skillet as I cook the fish.

Fill the tortillas with slaw, fish, and fresh cilantro leaves. Drizzle with the reserved sour-cream mixture and serve immediately.

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Essentials: Rice Recipe

Essentials: Baked Ziti Recipe

Essentials: Fish Tacos Recipe

Top 3 serious eats essentials recipes from across the web

The most viewed serious eats essentials recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 6,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engineic_arrow_forward_48px

Top Tags

Essentials: Rice Recipe

Essentials: Baked Ziti Recipe

Essentials: Fish Tacos Recipe

The most viewed serious eats essentials recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 6,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engine